"Near the surface of the earth there exists an electric field whose intensity is 100 N/C directed downward"

100 N/C

The electric field is a measure of the force that is exerted
per coulomb of charge. Its measure is defined as kq/r2
where k is the electrostatic constant constant, q is the amount
of charge, and r is the distance between charges. The presence
of an electric field is identified using a test charge.

The earth's atmosphere has an electric field that is directed
radially inward. Most of my sources show that knowing the electric
field of the earth can lead to the calculation of the charge on
the earth's surface. Though some of the figures obtained are for
the earth's atmosphere, it is true that the magnitude of the electric
field outside a uniformly charged sphere is the same as if all
the charge were concentrated at the center.

I obtained values for the magnitude of the electric field at
the Earth's surface. These were in the range of 66 N/C to
150 N/C. These values are close enough to assume that each
source received their data from a different primary source and
each may be accurate in their own right. I am convinced that the
figure is closer to 150 N/C than to 66 N/C because of
the sources themselves.

Though the electric field is reported as being constant by
some of my sources, The Handbook of Physics and Chemistry
proves that the electric field intensity varies measurements taken
at different altitudes above sea level. Its intensity decreases
as you move farther away from the earth's surface.

"Over land the average electric field is about 120 V/m …. Assuming an exponential increase of the conductivity with altitude, it can be shown that the electric field decreases exponentially with altitude. At the 30-km level, the electric field is as low as 300 MV/m [sic]. Integrating the electric field from the earth's surface to the ionosphere gives as a result an electric potential difference of about 200 kV."